Riverside Park, located in

Dawson Springs, Kentucky Dawson Springs is a home rule-class city in Hopkins and Caldwell counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,452. History Originally known as Tradewater Bend, the city was incorporated in ...

, was originally built in 1914 to serve as a spring training park for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1914 to 1917. Sometimes referred to as Tradewater Park, it is the only known

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

park in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

to have hosted a major league team since the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

folded in . While the original stadium was destroyed in a flood in the 1930s, it was later rebuilt in 1999. Like the original stadium, the rebuilt park is reconstructed out of wood. It is the only ballpark of its kind in

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

History

Initial park

Dawson Springs is home to a mineral spring that was believed by many to have medical healing qualities. This led to it becoming a huge resort town. Thousands of people came to drink and bathe in the spring. Forty hotels sprung up to accommodate the tourists. The Pittsburgh Pirates seeing these large crowds decided to make Dawson Springs their spring training home. In Riverside Park was built to serve as the spring training venue for the Pirates. The entire ballpark was made entirely from wood, from the grandstand to the dugout. Local citizens then constructed a large indoor pavilion for spring training and exhibition games and an additional wing was built onto the New Century Hotel to accommodate the players. Teams soon came from

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Kansas City,

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, Indianapolis,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, as well as minor league squads from Columbus, Ohio and

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

to play the Pirates at Riverside Park. These teams consisted of other major league squads,

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

teams, colleges, semi-professional teams, and even teams formed by local mining companies and businesses.

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

and his friends often went

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

at the Old Mill Dam, located right beside Riverside Park and a short walking distance from the New Century Hotel. Wagner, who trained on this field for 3 years, organized a team of local young boys known as "Honus Wagners' Young Recruits." Several other future members of the Hall of Fame including;

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson,

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New Y ...

, and

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...

also played baseball at Riverside Park. The team remained there through spring training of the 1916 season. The following season, the Pirates trained at

Barrs Field J. P. Small Memorial Stadium is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is located in the Durkeeville community in northwest Jacksonville. Constructed in 1912 and rebuilt in 1936, it was the city's first municipal recreation field, and served ...

, located in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Records also show that some major league teams played expedition games at Riverside Park until the early 1920s; the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

and Cincinnati Reds. Riverside Park then hosted many local teams, among them the Dawson Springs Resorters of the

Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League The Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League (or ''KITTY League'') was a Class D level minor league baseball circuit that went through six different periods of play between 1903 and 1955. The League hosted teams in 29 cities from the states of Ill ...

, continued to provide baseball for western Kentucky. In the 1930s a devastating storm flooded a river that runs alongside the field's first base line. The flood washed away the entire stadium. In the decades following the flood, residents in Dawson Springs were only left with the memories of the ballpark, as there was effort to rebuild the park.

Rebuilt park

In 1999 Dawson Springs' Mayor Stacia Peyton funded a public project to rebuild the park, to help preserve the history of the city. While public opinion reflected the need for the city to fund other civic needs, instead of rebuilding an old ballpark, Peyton pressed ahead with the plan. The goal of the project was to make the stadium as authentic as possible to the original. Riverside Park was rebuilt using the exact blueprints from the original 1914 design. The largest stumbling block for the engineers reconstructing the park was building the field entirely of wood, just like it had been in 1914. The rebuilt stadium's seats, roof, and beams were all made from wood, to create a one-of-a kind ballpark. It is currently the only completely wooden ballpark in the region. The stadium was used until 2012 by the Tradewater Pirates of the KIT League and then th
Ohio Valley League
The team was founded in 1999 and joined the KIT League in 2007. The Pirates' first game at Riverside was held on July 4, 1999. In 2008, the team celebrated its 10th anniversary. The club folded in 2012.

References

External links

Dawson Springs OnlineMadisonville Tradewater Pirates
{{Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball venues in Kentucky Buildings and structures in Hopkins County, Kentucky Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League Pittsburgh Pirates spring training venues 1914 establishments in Kentucky 1935 disestablishments in Kentucky 1999 establishments in Kentucky Sports venues completed in 1914 Sports venues demolished in 1935 Sports venues completed in 1999 Demolished sports venues in the United States